


Welcome to the Neighborhood

by buckyismymainman



Series: Avengers Oneshots [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hostage Situations, Minor Character Death, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-14 10:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19271080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: Bucky moves in next door to you and he’s not the most talkative of people, but there’s a softer side to your new neighbor.





	Welcome to the Neighborhood

You lived in the same town where the Avengers’ compound was located and it was cool to sometimes see Captain America or the Falcon running around the streets or coming into the shop where you worked.  You had thought about applying for a job there, but you didn’t think that they would accept you because you didn’t really have any training they would be looking for.

That was okay though, it was enough just being near them and helping them out when they came into the little shop where you worked.  Steve was a sweetheart and had to sometimes remind you it was okay to call him Steve rather than Captain Rogers.  Sam would joke with you and Natasha was nicer than you thought she would be.  All of them were, all except the one you had yet to meet.

Bucky Barnes was a ghost story amongst the locals.

He hardly ever left the compound and when he did it was mainly for the missions he would be assigned.  You had wanted to meet the former Winter Soldier, truth be told he was your favorite and you may have been harboring a small crush on him.

But you had never run into him… that was until today.

It was one of your days off and you were sitting in your living room reading when a moving truck pulled up next door.  You glanced out the window, trying not to look like you were snooping on the people moving in.  It had been months since the house next to yours went on sale, and you were curious to see who had bought it.

You figured it would be one of the newest recruits for the Avengers.  Not everyone lived at the compound, you had several friends who were techs or assistants that worked there.  But it wasn’t some low-level member moving in next door.

When you looked up you did a double take as you saw the brown haired super soldier carrying a box with his best friend beside him.  The two of them were laughing and your heart went erratic in your chest as you watched them disappear inside the house.  Was Steve moving in?  Bucky?  Sam?  Wanda?

You saw Scarlet Witch moving boxes with her powers, and then you saw Sam say something, he looked a little perturbed and Wanda merely laughed at whatever he had groused at her.  Steve and Bucky reappeared and you couldn’t take it anymore.  You placed a bookmark in your book and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and headed outside.

Steve noticed you first and smile, “Hey Y/N!”  

You smiled back at him, “Hello Steve.”  You glanced up at Bucky, “Sergeant Barnes.”  He merely gave you a blank look and went back to the truck.

Steve sighed, “Sorry about that, he’s still not used to strangers.”  He glanced at your house, “I didn’t know you lived in this neighborhood.”

You nodded your head and jerked your thumb toward your home, “I’ve lived there since before the Avengers’ compound was even built.  So are you moving in or is one of the others moving in?”

“Buck is moving in,” he said and you tried not to let on that that made you excited.  “He’ll warm up to you eventually, but he wanted out and away from all of us for a bit.  He says it’s too crowded there.”

“Not a people person, huh?”

Steve shrugged, “He used to be, but things have changed some.”

Bucky reemerged from the moving truck, “Hey punk, you gonna help or are you going to stand around talking all day?”

“Be right there, Buck!”  Steve shouted at his friend and then turned back to you.  “I should get back to work, it was nice seeing you.”

“Do you want some help?”  You felt bad taking up his time and not offering to help him any.

He shook his head, “We’ve got things covered, but thanks.”

You said your goodbyes and headed back inside, trying not to crane your neck every time Bucky appeared.

 

A few days had passed since your new neighbor had moved in and you caught him coming back from his runs in the morning.  He would glance at your house before heading inside.  You didn’t bother him remembering what Steve had said about him not really being a people persona anymore.

You didn’t want to be the reason he felt uncomfortable.  But one day you made chocolate chip cookies and headed next door.  Knocking you nervously waited as you heard his footsteps on the wooden floor.  When he opened the door he looked down at you with a blank look on his face.

You held up the container filled with the still warm cookies.  “I made you some cookies to welcome you to the neighborhood.  I also wanted to let you know that I know you probably go away a lot for missions so I can keep an eye on the house for you when you’re away and make sure nothing bad happens.”  He didn’t say anything as he gently took the cookies from your grip.  “Well, um, I’ll just,” you pointed back at your house, “be over there if you need me for anything.”

Cheeks burning you practically ran back to your house and slammed the door shut behind you, your back resting against the wood.

Later that day Steve and Wanda came by.  You had left the safety of your home and were working on your garden out front.  Wanda said hello and came over to see you while Steve headed inside.

“Hey Buck,” he called out as he moved through the house trying to find his friend.  “Where are you?”

“Kitchen,” he sounded like he was talking around a mouth full of food and when Steve entered the kitchen he noticed a chocolate chip cookie in his hand and a few crumbs in his beard.  “You gotta try this cookie, it’s delicious.”

Steve grabbed one of the cookies from the container and groaned when he tasted the cookie.  “This is really good, where did you get this?”

“Oh my God,” Wanda said as she entered the home.  “Have you tried Y/N’s cookies?”

Bucky’s cheeks heated some as Steve’s head whipped back to Bucky, “Did you finally talk to Y/N?”

“No,” he said sheepishly.  “Y/N came, dropped the cookies off and then fled the scene.”

Steve shook his head, “Bucky.”

“Don’t Bucky me,” he said back to Steve.  “I got nervous when Y/N just showed up!”

Steve shook his head, “Well try to talk to your new neighbor when you return the container.”

 

Three days later when you got home your cookie container was sitting in front of your door when a little note attached to it.  All it read was “thanks”.  You bit your lip trying not to smile and glanced at the house next to yours.  The house was dark, but you knew he was home.  You waved thinking that maybe he was watching for you to get home and see that he had left you a little present.

Inside you pulled up Wanda’s information and called her, she had given you her number the day she had come with Steve to see Bucky.  She answered on the second ring, “Hey.”

“Hey Wan, tell Steve that I got my cookie tin back, but that I didn’t see Bucky.”

Wanda laughed, “Oh he’s not going to be pleased to hear that.”

“It’s fine, baby steps.  At least he came and returned my container,” you put the container on the counter and threw your bag down with it.  

“True, hey I wanted to call and let you know that we’re going away on a mission tomorrow, we won’t be back for a few days so if I call and don’t answer that’s where I am.  Bucky’ll be coming with us.”

She promised to let you know when they were on their way home from the mission.

Wanda sent you a text letting you know that they were on their way back from Europe and would be there later that afternoon so you set your plan in motion.  You spent most of the morning in the kitchen making cookies for Bucky.

When they were done you wrote a little note for him,

_Dear Bucky,_

_All was quiet at your house, no masked villains trying to break in or nosy neighbors trying to get a peak in through the windows._

_I made some more cookies for you.  Please share them with the others.  I’ll know if you don’t._

_Hope all is well._

_Y/N_

With everything prepared you went next door and situated the cookies in front of his door.  Now it was time to wait.

When the cookie tin was returned there was a longer note this time.

_The team enjoyed the cookies you made for them.  Thanks._

The note, albeit short, made you smile.  Progress was being made.

And that was how things went until one day there was a knock on your door.  You opened it to discover the super soldier standing there in front of you.  He held out your container, “Thanks again for the cookies.  You don’t need to keep doing that.”

You smiled at him, “I like doing it.”

He looked a little bashful, “Well thanks again.”  

He turned to walk away and you called out, “Hey Bucky?  Would you like to have dinner one night?  I make a mean lasagna.”

He nodded, “Yeah I’d really like that.”

 

As the weeks progressed the dinners became more frequent and one night the two of you curled up on the couch together to watch a movie.  One night as the credits rolled was when you and Bucky shared your first kiss.  You felt like you were on cloud nine and couldn’t have felt any happier than you were in that moment.

Bucky asked you out on a proper date and soon you were meeting the other Avengers.  You were amazed at how much like a family they were, and they all welcomed you with open arms.

It wasn’t until Bucky was called away to New York City that things took a turn for the worst.  Bucky had warned you at the start of your relationship that something like this could happen and he had been right.

You came home late one night to your dark home. You glanced at Bucky’s house hoping to see his light on, but he was still away and probably wouldn’t be back until the early hours of the morning.

You locked the door behind you and jumped when a light flicked on.  “Y/N Y/L/N, so nice to meet the person who stole the Winter Soldier’s heart.”

“Who the hell are you?”  You said with much more bravado than you thought you could muster at that moment.

“We are apart of HYDRA,” the man before you grinned as several other men stepped out from the shadows. “When the  _soldat_  comes home you will tell him it’s over.”

“Why should I?”  You snapped.

He pulled a gun out that had been hidden under his coat, “Because I would hate for  _Soldat_  to come home and find his pretty little plaything lying in a pool of blood.”

Your heart sank, “Fine.”

The man smiled, “Someone will be watching you Y/N, don’t even think about alerting the others.”  With that, they were gone just as quickly as they had come leaving you frightened and alone wishing that Bucky had been home.

Bucky returned home the following day he was excited to see you and just hold you in his arms.  But he didn’t get the warm welcome that he thought he would.  When he knocked on your door there was no answer despite your car being in its usual place in the driveway.  “Doll?”  He called through the door.  “Everything all right?”

You covered your mouth with your hand trying to stifle the sob that was threatening to escape.  You didn’t want him to see you like this and you didn’t think you could see him right now either.  If you did then everything that had happened the previous night would come tumbling out and you didn’t want that at all.  It would only put you and him in more danger if you did.

Finally, Bucky gave up and went back to his home.  He watched your windows to see if he could spot you moving around.  He saw you and you seemed distressed, and he wanted nothing more than to just go over there and comfort you, but you hadn’t answered before so what would make you answer him this time?

 

Bucky became more distressed the longer you went without talking to him.  He went back to the compound to tell Steve and Sam what was going on.  Natasha heard and got very confused.  You were head over heels for Bucky, what had happened?  

She drove to your house and knocked on the door, “Y/N, you home?”

You looked out the peephole and saw that it was just Natasha, “What do you want?”

“To talk,” she said.  You pulled open the door and she took in your appearance.  You looked like you had been crying and you seemed to be shaking a little.  “What the hell is going on?”  She demanded as she moved past you and walked deeper into your home.

“I don’t know what you mean,” you tried to lie even though you knew it wouldn’t work with her.

She saw through it instantly, “Why are you avoiding Bucky?”

“Come in the kitchen with me,” you said.  The two of you went into the kitchen and you passed her a plate of cookies.  “I’m breaking up with Bucky, I just haven’t figured out how to tell him.”  You pulled a letter out of your pocket.  You knew that HYDRA had watched you write it, you had to be careful with your wording.  “Would you give this to him?  Please.”

“No, if you want to end things with him then you do it in person,” she argued.

“Nat, please,” the tone of your voice changed and Natasha knew that you were scared.  Something had gone wrong.

She hesitated and took the letter, “All right, but I still think you should tell him in person.”

“I can’t, just… just give it to him.”  You broke down into tears and Natasha hugged you.  

She left shortly after that and when she got back to the compound she handed the letter to Bucky.  “Read it, now,” she demanded.  She wanted to know what the letter said.

Bucky saw your handwriting and became worried.  As he read it he became more confused, “She’s breaking up with me?”

Natasha scrutinized the letter and then she saw it, “Bucky, look at the spaced between the words.”  You had carefully placed the words so far apart so that the spaced turned into a word when you unfocused your eyes, it was like when you tried to find a pattern in abstract art to see if there were any hidden images.  The only word there was HYDRA.  “I knew something was off.  They’re watching the house.”

“I have to get her,” Bucky went to rush out of the compound, but Steve stopped him.  “Let me go, Steve.”

“You’re only going to get Y/N hurt,” Steve said.  “Think this through before you go rushing in guns blazing.”

“I can’t just sit back and do nothing!” Bucky shouted at his friend.

Natasha stepped in, “Go home, act as if the letter upset you, pretend to be heartbroken, we’ll fix this.”

He nodded his head, his friends were right, if he did what he wanted to do then he would get you hurt and he couldn’t bear that.  He headed home and prepared to act like a heartbroken man.

 

Several weeks had passed since you had given the letter to Natasha.  You hoped it worked, you hoped they knew.  You had kept to yourself, the others only speaking to you when they came into the shop where they worked.  Steve would give you worried looks when he noticed the dark circles under your eyes.

“Trouble sleeping?”  He asked one day, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yeah,” you responded in a small voice.

“Hang in there, Y/N.  Things are going to get better,” the sincerity in his voice almost made you break down crying right there, but you held it together.

When you got off work you trudged home, but it no longer felt like home.  Not when you were scared to go to sleep each night for fear someone might be watching you from the window or through a video feed.

What you didn’t know was that Natasha had set up shop in Bucky’s spare room listening in through your phone and any of your other devices that were in the house.  “If they break in again, we’ll know,” she promised Bucky.

“Thanks, Nat,” he squeezed her shoulder and went to watch you from the windows like he had been doing most days since he had received your letter.

You threw your bags down and let out a scream when a man emerged from your laundry room.  Natasha and Bucky both shot to their feet and grabbed for their weapons.  Back at your home, you were backing up as the man from before appeared, “You broke the rules Y/N.”

You shook your head, “No, I didn’t!  I broke up with him like you said.”  Your mind was racing as you tried to figure a way out of the house without them grabbing you.  You didn’t know if Bucky was home, you had avoided looking over at his place much since the night HYDRA had first been in your home.

“Soldat knows,” he pulled a gun out and aimed it right for your head.  “You’re useless to us know.”

There was a loud bang as a gunshot rang out followed by another gunshot, you coward in fear waiting for things to just cease to exist, for some type of pain, but there was nothing.  When you looked up the man was dead, Bucky was standing there rage written all over his face.  His eyes softened when he saw you standing there cowering.

He rushed over to you and scooped you into his arms, “I’ve got you.”  You burst into tears as you clung to Bucky for dear life.  “I won’t let them hurt you again,” he whispered.

“Bucky!”  Natasha called out.

“Kitchen!”  He shouted back at her.

When she came in she said, “House is secure, but there are probably more on their way.”

Bucky nodded, “Come on, doll.  We need to pack a bag for you and get you to the compound, you’ll be safe there where we can all keep a closer eye on you.”

You nodded and Bucky wiped some of your tears away.  “I’m so sorry, Bucky.”  

He kissed you, holding you closer, just thankful they had been there in time to stop HYDRA from killing you.  “There’s nothing to be sorry for, doll.  Come on let’s get you packed and then we’ll go to the compound together.  Sam’ll be happy, he’s been dying for more of your cookies.”

You chuckled, “He’s going to have to share, I know he likes to hog the cookies.”

Bucky smirked, “I can’t wait to see what he’ll do to pilfer them out of the kitchen with you there watching over them now.”  He walked with you to your room and helped you pack anything you would need, promising to come back and get anything you had forgotten.

Natasha drove the car while you and Bucky sat curled up in the back seat, thankful to be in each other’s arms again.


End file.
